4th day of Tamuz: Shaar Hayichud, Chapter 11 - Part 2

Follow-Along Text:

Lessons in Tanya - Chapter 11

The Alter Rebbe explained in the previous chapter that the Sefirot — the Divine attributes, and the Divine wisdom and Will — are designated by their respective names only in relation to created beings, which are granted existence and life and guidance by Him Who enclothes Himself in those attributes.

However, since these attributes are united with Him in a perfect unity, they are not identifiable by any names whatever when considered relative to Him. In this they correspond to the sunlight that is still within the sun: it is not deemed “light”, because at that stage it is absolutely absorbed within its source.

The Alter Rebbe now goes on to explain that not only are the attributes and Sefirot called by their respective names in relation to created beings alone, but even the Ten Utterances — through which the attributes become manifest, thereby bringing created beings into existence and providing them with life — are also called “Utterances” only in relation to created beings. They are not called so relative to G‑d, however, inasmuch as they are united with the attributes, which in turn are united in perfect unity with the Holy One, blessed be He.

והנה עשרה מאמרות גם כן נקראו בשם מאמרות לגבי הנבראים בלבד

The Ten Utterances are also designated “Utterances” only in relation to created beings, since this is a term that relates to revelation, as shall presently be explained.

כי כמו שהמדות שבנשמת האדם, כשבאות להתגלות במעשה

For just as the emotive attributes of the human soul, when they surface in order to be revealed in [a corresponding] action,

הן באות מלובשות באותיות המחשבה

appear enclothed in the letters of thought, [so do the attributes of the Holy One, blessed be He].

For example, the soul’s attribute of kindness and mercy cannot be revealed (i.e., find expression) in actual deed unless one first thinks about and contemplates doing an actual act of charity and kindness,

כי אי אפשר לעשות בלי מחשבה

for one cannot act without thought.

It sometimes happens that before an emotive attribute finds expression in action, it must first become enclothed not only in thought but also in speech. This is now explained.

ואם מצוה לאחרים לעשות, כמו המלך

If a person, such as a king, commands others to perform [an act of kindness],

אזי מתלבשת מדת החסד, וגם אותיות המחשבה, באותיות הדבור

then the attribute of kindness and with it the letters of thought are garbed in the letters of speech.

וכן כשמדבר דברי חסד ורחמים לרעהו

(1This is also the case when one speaks words of kindness and compassion to his friend.)

Thus, it is through letters of thought or letters of speech that the soul’s faculties and attributes are revealed.

כך, על דרך משל, מדותיו של הקב״ה, כשבאות לבחינת התגלות פעולתן בתחתונים

So, figuratively speaking, when the emotive attributes of the Holy One, blessed be He, reach the level at which their activity is to be revealed in the lower [worlds],

נקרא גילוי זה והמשכת פעולה זו בשם מאמר וצירוף אותיות

this revelation and the flow of this action are called an “Utterance” and a combination of letters,

For instance, for the creation of light from the attribute of kindness, there issued from it a flow of action and a power with which to produce and create the light.

The attribute of kindness is capable of producing varying results and various manifestations of creation, as shall soon be explained. In order for it to create light rather than something else, the attribute of Chesed must produce a specific revelation and power whose makeup is such that specifically light will be created from it.

והמשכת כח זה וחיות זו נקראת בשם מאמר ואותיות: יהי אור

The flow of this power and this life-force is called by the name of the “Utterance” and the [combination of the] letters [that constitute the Biblical phrase], “Let there be light.”

כי אף שאינן כאותיות מחשבה שלנו, חס ושלום

Although they are not actual letters of thought like our letters of thought, G‑d forbid,

The Alter Rebbe had previously drawn an analogy: just as a person’s soul is revealed through letters of thought, so too do the Divine attributes become manifest through letters of thought. He therefore forestalls any misunderstanding by pointing out in the above clause that whereas the soul actually contains letters, with all their inherent limitations, this is not so Above.

מכל מקום הם ענין המורה על התהוות האור מאין ליש

nevertheless, they are similar to our letters of thought in that they are a phenomenon which indicates the bringing into existence of the light from nothing; i.e., they are the particular power that creates light.

Hence, light was created from this flow of power, and not other things which were also created from the attribute of kindness, such as water and the like,

Thus, the combination of letters is such that this Divine power specifically creates light. It is therefore deemed to be the “Utterance” which proclaimed, “Let there be light.” This selfsame attribute of kindness creates other things, such as water,

Accordingly, all life-forces and powers which issue from [G‑d’s] holy emotive attributes to the lower [worlds], to create them ex nihilo and to give them life and sustain them, are called “holy letters.”

שהן בחינת המשכת החיות מרצונו וחכמתו ומדותיו, להתהוות עולמות ולהחיותם

These are the flow of the life-force from His Will and His wisdom and His emotive attributes, to bring worlds into being and give them life.

In truth, however, the Supernal letters of speech are far higher than the level and essence of the wisdom and intellect of created beings.

In this they differ from the letters of man’s thought and speech, which are “inanimate”, and belong to a level far lower than intellect.

The Alter Rebbe now demonstrates that the Supernal letters of speech transcend man’s intellect and wisdom:

שהרי במאמר ואותיות: נעשה אדם בצלמנו וכו׳, נברא האדם, בעל חכמה ושכל

For man, possessor of wisdom and intellect, was created by the “Utterance” and the letters of [the phrase],2 “Let us make man in our image...;”

Since wisdom and intellect are derived from these letters, it is obvious that the letters themselves are far superior to them.

או אפילו בהבל העליון לבד, כדכתיב: ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים

or [man, possessor of wisdom and intellect, was created] even3 by the Divine breath alone, as it is written,4 “And He breathed into his nostrils a soul of life.”

It was from this “breath” that was breathed into man, that he became a rational being.

אם כן, הדבור והבל העליון הוא מקור החכמה ושכל שבנשמת אדם הראשון

Hence, since Divine speech and breath create man, who possesses wisdom and intellect, it follows that the Divine speech and breath are the source of wisdom and intellect in the soul of Adam,

הכוללת כל נשמות הצדיקים, שהם גדולים ממלאכי השרת

which contains all the souls of the tzaddikim, who are superior to the ministering angels, and whose intellect too is superior to that of the angels. All this came forth from the Divine speech and breath.

They are termed “letters” not in relation to created beings, but only relative to [G‑d’s] emotive attributes themselves.

The name “letters”, which signifies that they are lower than wisdom and intellect, is not applied to them in relation to created beings, for as explained earlier, they are far superior to created wisdom and intellect. Rather, this term is applied to them relative to G‑d’s emotive attributes, inasmuch as they are only “letters” — revelations — of these attributes.

והנה הן כ״ב מיני המשכות חיות וכחות שונים זה מזה

Now they — the Supernal letters — are twenty-two kinds of effluences of life-force and power, differing from one another,

שבהן נבראו כל העולמות, עליונים ותחתונים, וכל הברואים שבתוכם

by which all the higher and lower worlds and all the creatures in them were created.

For the letters of speech and thought in the human soul are also outflows from the essence and being of the intellect and the emotive attributes, as is explained elsewhere

Commentary of the Rebbe on Chapter Eleven

Having explained towards the end of ch. 11 that the Supernal letters are twenty-two different kinds of effluences of life-force and power by which G‑d created the world, the Alter Rebbe goes on to say that “these are the twenty-two letters which are fixed in the mouth and tongue, as we have learned in Sefer Yetzirah.” The Alter Rebbe then goes on to say that the shape of the written letters “indicates the form of the flow.” He concludes: “For the letters of speech and thought in the human soul are also outflows from the essence and being of the intellect and emotive attributes [of the soul].”

The Rebbe asks a number of questions: First of all, what is the Alter Rebbe’s intent in saying all of the above; how does all this relate to our text? Furthermore, what is novel about the concept that the twenty-two letters “are fixed in the mouth and tongue”? Why, moreover, must proof be adduced from Sefer Yetzirah, when this is something which is readily apparent to all? And why does the Alter Rebbe not state all this in ch. 2, where he explains that the Divine life-force which creates all creatures is composed of the Supernal Letters, and so forth?

In addition, the Alter Rebbe’s statement that “their written shape indicates the form of the flow,” emphatically belongs at the end of ch. 12, where he discusses the differences between the letters at length.

The crux of the matter, explains the Rebbe, is as follows:

The general content of this chapter and the one preceding it is that (a) the Ten Utterances, the Supernal letters, are also united with G‑d; (b) the manner of their union is wondrous. Nonetheless they are called “light” and “Utterance” inasmuch as “the Torah speaks as in the language of man”; i.e., there is at least the degree of similarity that obtains between an analogy and its analogue. The Sefirot may thus be likened to light, and their effluences — the Ten Utterances — may be likened to mortal utterances and letters.

Accordingly, the following questions arise:

(a) Man’s speech and letters are formed by the larynx, palate, tongue, etc., as well as by his breath. Thus, the letters of man’s speech do not derive from his intellect and emotive attributes. How, then, are these letters analogous to the Ten Utterances, which flow from the intellect and emotive attributes of G‑d and remain connected with him?

(b) In point of fact, it is true even Above that speech and letters derive from the Supernal “five organs of verbal articulation” (as discussed in ch. 2). How does this accord with the statement that the letters emanate from the Divine intellect and emotive attributes?

(c) The terminology in the analogue is that the power for the creation of light emanates (and not that light is “created”) from the attribute of Chesed through the Utterance, “Let there be light.” The same is true with regard to the power by which water is created; it, too, emanates from the attribute of Chesed. All this clearly implies that the powers and the letters are already found within this attribute. However, this is not the case with regard to the mortal breath that forms letters. The breath itself has assumed no form at all: it is only formed into the shape of letters in the course of its passage through the organs of verbal articulation. Thus, the letters formed in the mouth are unlike the powers and letters, which are already found within the emotive attributes.

All these questions are answered by the Alter Rebbe when he states that the effluence of the powers and life-forces which emanate from the Sefirot to bring about creation is — both Above and below - - “the twenty-two letters.” These letters are merely “fixed” (i.e., implanted) “in the mouth and tongue.” Essentially, however, they are already to be found in the intellect and emotive attributes, whence they are drawn down into speech. And since this concept is novel, the Alter Rebbe cites support from Sefer Yetzirah — that the twenty-two letters are indeed merely “fixed in the mouth and tongue,” and not created by them.

According to the above teaching — that the letters derive from the essential core of the intellect and the emotions — we understand that the union of the letters with their essence is far greater than what it would be if they were to derive from the organs of articulation. Indeed, they are united with the essence in a manner similar to the manner in which the intellect itself (from which the letters derive) is in turn united with its essence. Moreover, this is so not only regarding the letters of thought and speech, but also in regard to the letters of action: they, too, are united with their source in a similar manner. For the shape of the written letters (which denote action) indicates the form of their flow; i.e., their shape reflects the manner in which they flow from the quintessential substance of intellect and emotions.

In light of the above, concludes the Rebbe, another most difficult problem will be resolved.

The Alter Rebbe said earlier that man is created as a rational being by the Divine Utterance and letters, because the Supernal letters are far superior to man’s intellect. Now this reason is puzzling. The distance between letters and intellect is not measured in degrees of higher and lower, for speech and intellect are qualitatively different entities. Why, then, does the Alter Rebbe state that the Supernal Letters are “far higher” than the wisdom of created beings?

According to the above explanation, however, this is eminently understandable: Since the letters of speech in fact derive from wisdom — moreover, from the very essence of wisdom — they are able to give rise to wisdom and intelligence within man.

The Rebbe notes that by writing “or even by the Divine breath” the Alter Rebbe seems to imply that “breath” is lower than “Utterance” or “letters”. In the first part of Tanya, however, at the beginning of ch. 2, the Alter Rebbe indicates that just as mortal breath derives from one’s “innermost vitality,” so too is Divine “breath” indicative of “G‑d’s thought and wisdom” — and these transcend His “Utterance” or the “letters”.

The Rebbe resolves this anomaly by reference to Iggeret HaTeshuvah, ch. 4, where the Alter Rebbe states that man’s soul “derives initially from the innermost dimension of the life-force,” and then, in order that it could eventually be invested in a body, it descended through the stages of speech and breath.

Thus the “breath” of “He breathed into his nostrils” indeed transcends the level of “Utterances” and “letters”; the “breath of speech,” however, is lower than “letters”.